GochvsgoesTell them apart

Quick tell: Goch is a name, goes is a verb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Goch” is a name and “goes” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#46,703
“Goch” frequency rank
#17,311
“goes” frequency rank
64014
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Goch goes
Definition eine Stadt in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland 3. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs go

Where the eye mixes Goch and goes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

4 ch
Goch
4 ch
goes

Look-alike desk: Goch vs goes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Goch is [ɡɔx] while goes is [ɡəʊz]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (name vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 64014, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Goch is recorded at frequency rank #46,703, classified as aname, pronounced [ɡɔx]. goes is at rank #17,311, tagged as averb, pronounced [ɡəʊz].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 64014, this pair ranks #656,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of Goch vs goes

Shared letters: go. Private to "Goch": ch. Private to "goes": es.

"Goch" · 4 letters · shape CVCC  ·  "goes" · 4 letters · shape CVVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gochgcoh · ggoch · gocch · gochh · gohc · ogch
  • goesgeos · ggoes · goess · gose · oges

Frequently Asked Questions

Is swapping "Goch" for "goes" ever safe?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Goch" is a name and "goes" a verb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Goch" vs "goes" - which ranks higher?
"goes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #17,311 in our German list, against #46,703 for "Goch". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Goch" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "goes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #656,402 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Goch" and "goes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Goch vs gods". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #656,402 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list